Sunseeker would like your opinion on tank sizes!

[bclemens]

Manufacturing is always a balancing act, features versus size/weight.

I know if there were no restrictions everyone would have huge fresh, gray & black tanks but would you be willing to give up storage space & seat belts?

Realistically speaking...what would you consider to be adequate fresh/gray and black tanks? Also indicate if you are site or dry camping.

[LadyWindrider]

Tough question. We are a couple, male and female. Shower takes about 7 gallons for each of us. Seems the 4th shower, and after we wash a few dishes, and the 30 gallon gray tank is full, and the 30 gallon fresh water tank is empty. As for the black tank. we can go 3 or 4 days just fine when hooked up. We have a 6 gallon water heater. It all depends on how conservative you are, and we are all different.

[4st-rvr]

I believe this depends on the type of camping you prefer to do. If you’re the type that prefers resort camping with full hookups then the tank size is not so critical. A lot of people, such as ourselves, we prefer to “dry camp” and therefore it is much more of an issue. With a family of 4 it is hard to squeeze out 3 or 4 days on 30 gallons of grey water. The black water is really not an issue we can go easily a week with 30 black. With a large grey water tank it really opens up the possibilities; since we always carry extra fresh water (6.5 gal portable cans) we can easily “reload” the fresh water. Also a lot of times, if you camping near water, most campgrounds do not have sanitary hookups in the sites most near the water due to the risk of pollution. So in this case you miss out on the use of the “better” sites. For us Bigger is Better!

[jk31668]

in our case, i would opt for a larger black water tank. it seems to fill faster than the gray one

[2Susan]

2 adults and 3 children:
grey always fills faster than black. We run out of water in 3 days with no showers.

Bigger tanks (fresh, grey, black) give the user more options. You don't have to fill the fresh tank while traveling if you don't want the weight, but with smaller tanks you have a narrower range of choices - bringing separate water containers etc. I doubt an additional 10 gallons would reduce the amount of storage space (tanks after all are flat and squared off).

Things a manufacturer should do:
- Fix the problem of fresh water siphoning away as the tank is filled or while the rig is rolling down the road (see many posts on this forum)
- revise owner information so it's quite clear how increased weight of fluid impacts towing capability (see numerous posts with confusion on what their intended tow vehicle can do)
- consider "consumer ed" tips and tricks for water conservation. This could be a website page.

[2Susan]

Also NOT relating to water but to motor homes - MORE factory installed SEATBELTS.

All spots at the dinette should have a seatbelt as should all spots on the couch. I have 3 children and the odd one out on the couch (because there are only 2 spots with seatbelts at the dinette) is left out of activities or has to juggle them on their lap. All three of our children are still in carseats / booster seats.

Perhaps the market for motorhomes in the past was only retirees, but read this forum and you'll see that lots of us have little kids.

For safety, I would much prefer my children to be either front or rear facing (at the dinette) than sitting sideways (on the couch) while traveling.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by jk31668

in our case, i would opt for a larger black water tank. it seems to fill faster than the gray one

are you sure? that's basically opposite of what's normal.
what sizes are your gray/black tanks?
i know some RV's can have only a 6 gallon black tank, which, in that case, would fill faster.

[Sportracker]

I was struggling with a full grey sink tank and a 1/3 shower tank this morning in our '10 Sunseeker. Still have 2 days of camping to go. I was dreaming of a way to have a full tank with an overflow valve which would spill into the less full tank. No needd to change tank sizes then and we happy campers could manage our unique styles
That would be my $0.02.

[crocus]

We have the same issue, a basically empty shower/bathroom sink gray tank, and a full kitchen gray tank. From what I understand, the two gray tanks add up to 76 gallons, but I wish the kitchen one was 76 gallons by itself!
The black is about 40 gallons, and is plenty big enough.
The fresh water tank is only a bit over 40 gallons, and it would be nice if it was larger. 60 gallons would be great, but I wonder if that heavy of a tank might not end up on the highway. I have seen others post how their tanks are falling out of their campers as it is.

[4st-rvr]

Originally Posted by Sportracker

I was struggling with a full grey sink tank and a 1/3 shower tank this morning in our '10 Sunseeker. Still have 2 days of camping to go. I was dreaming of a way to have a full tank with an overflow valve which would spill into the less full tank. No needd to change tank sizes then and we happy campers could manage our unique styles
That would be my $0.02.

Count yourself lucky you atleast have two tanks (guessing 47 gals total) We ordered a late '10, but missed the manufacture switch over so we ended up with an '11. Forest River opted to change the grey capacity from 47 down to 23 gallons (without notifying the dealer or us). Tried to get them to fix it, even had a local dealer provide a solution, but Forest River (as the dealer said...told us to go pound sand!). Not only will we not correct this, but if YOU fix it we will void your warranty. WOW, With a family of 4, 23 gals will last a day.

[davegood]

We are two seniors in a Sunseeker 2300. The black tank is supposed to be 30 gal, and I wish it were larger. We dry camp primarily. Daily showers are not a necessity, but toilets are.

[pasweet]

We have a 2010 Sunseeker 3120, our black and gray are only 25 gal, these is what is printed on end of tank,I would love to have larger tanks but weight will be a factor,

[zook]

We have a 2012 Sunseeker 3120DS and it says 35 Gal for both gray and black but they do seem to fill up quickly. I need to check and see if they are indeed 25 gal. With 55 gal of fresh it would be nice to be able to use it.

[4st-rvr]

Zook,

Sorry, but it looks like they got you too. We have been trying to get Forest River to correct the problem with ours (sales brochure for our unit listed 47 gallons for the grey capacity, but when we received the unit they had changed it to 30 gals. In reality it only holds 23 gals. at best), but so far the best they are willing to do is to allow US to pay the dealer to install a second tank. Be careful when you look at the volume stamped on the end of the tank there is a listing for US gallons and Empirical gallons (30/25 in our case). You also may also find that if you do the calcs on the dimensions that it is a bit less than the stamped rating. Seems to me by all the posts here, these folks need to try camping before they make silly changes to these rigs. The last time out we got 3 days dry camping (grey over flowing into the shower) with the four of us, and that was without showers. Guess they should remove the shower since now can’t be used unless you are at a resort. Good luck!

[davegood]

Perhaps bclemens can get the answer to this:
I just found a label on the grey tank of my 2010 Sunseeker 2300. It says 430H Holding Tank.
Does anyone know what capacity that is?
The specs say it (and the black) should be 30 gal.

Between this and the other thread regarding holding tank capacities, there are suspicions that Forest River puts in lower capacity holding tanks than they list in the specs. We need to collect information regarding this, including names, phone numbers, etc. of any Forest River contacts who confirm that.
In my case, I want to know what size 430H is and if that is the same with my black tank.

[zook]

My question is how big of a tank will fit if they can be changed at all. And if so how hard a job is it?

[davegood]

If Forest River deliberately understates tank sizes, I consider that fraud. I don't want a bigger tank, I want my full out-the-door purchase price refunded. They can have my motor home back.

[jk31668]

went camping in a cg w/o sewer hookups with 4 adults. we tried to be conservative by using the closest bath house xcept at night. we arrived fri afternoon and left sun am. both tanks were above 3/4 full according to the panel. my feeling is that one can always dump gray water on the ground if one has to but you cant with the black tank. so, i feel one needs more black tankage. my sales brochure says 30 & 30 on my 2010 sunseeker 3100 ss. i never though to question that until now so i will go looking for the labels for more info.

[4st-rvr]

davegood,
I have the mechanical drawing for the 430H holding tank. This is the tank they switched to on the 2011 2860DS's. This tank is manufactured by Promens for Forest River. The manufacture rates the tank size to be 28.2 U.S Gals and 23.3 IMP Gals. The shape of the tank is such that if the vent line is inserted into the tank for proper mechanical connection, it is very possible that it can protrude into the tank, that a large percentage of the tank volume may be lost. (Triangular in shape) I think this is why my tank only holds 23 gals.

[lagooncity]

Have just recently purchased a used 26ft Sunseeker LE class C and am new at this game but have a question re the control that details various levels what is it referring to when it gives you the Galley Level